Phoenix (2014)
Cast includes: Nina Hoss (Barbara, A Most Wanted Man), Ronald Zehrfeld (Barbara), Nina Hunzendorf (Woman in Gold)
Writer/Director: Christian Petzold (Barbara, Yella)
Genre: Drama | History | Suspense (98 minutes) German with subtitles
The melancholy base notes of jazz classic “Speak Low” set the mood, even though we’re looking at an ominous scene of a boarder guard shining a flashlight into the car and asking for papers. Tension builds when he asks to see the face of the bandaged passenger. Lene steps out to explain, “She’s from the camps.” He still wants the passenger to unwrap the blood-soaked gauze. “Nice car,” he comments. (There aren’t many nice cars in Germany because of the war.) “I’ve been in Switzerland,” Lene says. The bandaged woman is the jazz singer, Nelly Lenz… it’s hard to figure out “why a Jewess would return to Germany” when she could have stayed in London. After all, her entire family probably died in the camps. No records have been found yet on her sister Ester, but Lene works in occupied Berlin’s records office. So if any one can find out what happened, it’s Lene. Nelly wants to know “where’s Johnny,” but Lene chooses not to answer… instead urging Nelly to make plans to leave Germany and go to Israel.
The first thing Nelly needs is a new face because the bullet did quite a bit of damage. As it turns out, Nelly doesn’t want a new face… she wants her old face back. The surgeon does his best, but the only photo of Nelly isn’t very good. In the meantime, Lene learns that Ester is indeed dead and Johnny is very much alive. Although Lene won’t help in the search for Johnny, Nelly finds enough clues to eventually end up at the Phoenix club, where she believes she’ll find him playing the piano, like the old days... but it turns out he’s working as a janitor. When Nelly calls out to him, he turns but looks right through her… her own husband doesn’t even recognize her! But that said, he does notice that she has a slight resemblance to his wife, “who was killed.” And the next time he sees her, he tries to recruit her to “pretend” to be his wife… that way, “I can get her inheritance… we’ll split it.” “Do I really look like her?” Nelly asks. “No but you will.”
Little by little, Johnny gives her a complete makeover and coaches her on every little detail. Surprisingly, her act becomes rather convincing. In the meantime, Lene has learned things about what Johnny did during the war and feels Nelly should rethink her relationship with Johnny. But Nelly continues with the charade… pretending to be a woman named Ester… pretending to learn how to play a woman named Nelly. Phoenix has a dark, melancholy, mysterious vibe, even though it never turns into a true mystery. It has an interesting and thought-provoking theme, making it a great film to see with friends who enjoy discussions afterward. On the downside, you’ll need to be able to overlook some unconvincing, unrealistic plot details… details you’re not always sure you understand correctly because the subtitles sometimes fly by so quickly. As Nelly’s makeover nears completion, she feels that Johnny doesn’t understand that a concentration camp survivor won’t look the same as before being sent to the camp. Furthermore, there’s a whole survival story one should be able to talk about. Johnny assures her these details are unimportant. “No one will ask.”
2 popped kernels
In the aftermath of WWII, Nelly returns to Berlin looking for the husband who may have betrayed her
Popcorn Profile
Rated: PG-13
Audience: Grown-ups
Gender Style: Sensitive
Distribution: Art House
Mood: Sober
Tempo: Pure In No Hurry
Visual Style: Nicely Varnished Realism
Nutshell: Post-WWII Germany
Language: True to life
Social Significance: Thought Provoking
